Enjoy The Silence 3

Michael Moore – Patriot or Treasoness?

That seems to be the most interesting debate of the moment on the BP boards and something that seems to hit sensitive spots in us all. I for one being English do not know a great deal about Michael Moore, i’ve heard of his books and saw the hilarious Oscars 2002 ( i think it was) speech against Bush, but i have seen Bowling For Columbine and understand what he is fighting for.

When i saw Bowling For Columbine i must admit i really thought to myself “why the fuck would anyone want to live in America!?!” Now i truely and honestly do not wish to offend the America users of BP by that comment, but BFC portrays your country as a damn scary place to live in!

To cut a long story short after seeing BFC i was totally convinced that America is full of whackos (referring mainly to that guy who was related to one of the Oklahoma bombers and that school kid was sad he wasn’t on te most wanted list in his school!), believed Chartlton Heston is poor excuse for a human being a large percentage of America’s are uneducated enough to really believe that Marilyn Manson was somehow to blame for Columbine!

However there are a number of sources who claim that Moore is no better than the US government as he is deceitful in his depiction of the truth. I have read a number of these claims (not all) and must admit they are well researched and do make me wish to re-evalutate my stance on Moore, which until not too long ago was that he is a model American.

So is Moore’s lifelong crusade really a fight for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (so help me god 🙂 or really just a carefully disguised attempted at changing US politics to his own suit and making a quick buck at the same time?

I cannot say for certain because i do not know the man, so that particular argument is very much open to debate. However one thing in my eyes that is definately not open to debate is the following :-

1. BFC is purely a way one ticket, it offers very little in supporting argument for Gun laws as it stands in the US, it is totally way one and very bias!

2. My title of this column is Patriot or Tresoness? By now you’ve probably made up your minds on which side you believe Michael Moore to be on, however to support my column i seeked the “exact” meaning of the two to see which best describes what i believe to be Michael Moore. (my source is dictionary.com)

Patriot = one who loves and defends his or her country

Treason = The offense of attempting to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance, or of betraying the state into the hands of a foreign power; disloyalty; treachery.

Now i will admit that the defination of Treason is very different in respects to the English Monarchy and the US Government, but essentially they mean the same thing. Personally i no longer see Michael Moore as the patriot i once did, he may love America but he does nothing to defend it, he makes it look weak to the world and really highlights it was a terribly run country. However more interesting he falls almost categortically into the defination of Treason as he does misleads people with he points of view ( as he did with Heston in BFC) he solidly betrays his government and is disloyal to his President.

Now weather you believe him to be either, by defination alone he is not a patriot and is very close to being guilty of treason. Now in England treason is probably the worst crime a person can commit and anyone suspected of treason would almost certainly be in prison for life, a few years ago be killed.

I would like to end this column by once again leaving this argument totally open to debate as it purely written in my own perception. However i would add that respect Moore for what he is trying to do and to stand against the US government alone is a very brave thing to do…….. i wonder what the odds are on his assasination?

6 thoughts on “Enjoy The Silence 3”

Nice article MVD. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m not the smartest guy when it comes to knowing politics. I used to not even give a shit and only began paying attention within the past few years, which is the attitude that a lot of Americans share. Unfortunately, it’s also the attitude that’s led us to having someone like George Bush in office. As for Michael Moore, he’s extremely biased. The only problem I see with that is when people watch his movies or read his books and take on his opinion of everything. That’s no better than the people who follow Bush and take his word as religion. I believe it’s good to explore both sides of every story and form your own opinion rather than live by someone elses.

I completely agree with Aaron here, and as much as i wrote my article in defense of Moore I don’t think he’s some saint who knows all and he practices a double standard that i really don’t like at all, patriot or not i think it’s wrong for one to put a bias on any of your stuff.

nice article!! there were a few things it took me a second to understand (mainly due to grammar stuff). I would like to point out a few things before i read john’s rebuttle article, so bear with me if i repeat anything.

by your definition michael moore is treasonous because he disagrees with mainstream media and the selfish actions of the government. michael moore is most definately not anti-government. he is very political and is not anarchist. he believes in the system and in the american people. challenging a failing government to re-evaluate it’s ideals, to change its policies and better itself is not trying to destroy the govt, it is trying to improve it. whether you agree with him or not, i think most people would agree that in his mind, moore is trying to highlight what he feels is wrong w/ the government so that we can change it for the better.

have you seen Farenheit 9/11 yet? idk if it is out in the uk yet… when you do get a chance to see it you will notice that michael moore is the EPITOME of a patriot!! throughout the film he sympathises with average american families gives more support and sympathy to our troops than anyone in the media I have seen so far! he shows the reality of war, exposes things that happened during and after 9/11 that our censored and biased media did not show us, and things that were kept from the american public by the bush administration that led to a very warped opinion of this war, 9/11, the connection (or lack thereof) b/t them etc etc.

criticizing the government is very different from violently opposing the government. and if criticising the government is treason then strictly by the definition of the wored, america is composed of and was built on treason and those who commited it. Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of our country and the writer of the bill of rights and member of the Constitutional Party states in his letters to various other influential contemporaries (ie. james madison) that america should be about the freedom to change the government based on the peoples needs, he also said that there should be a freedom of information with the people and that it should be the job of the media (esp. newspapers) to give the people reliable information about thier world. he understood that the average person woluld not be able to know all the intrecacies of the govt, but the media could help bring some knowledge to the people.

michael moores fight is for the good of the american people, who he clearly shows his admiration and love for in this film. he is fighting for the restoration of the ideals that founded this country. i dont know much about modern british govt, but i assume that it is a bit different in its ideals than the supposed ideals of american government. so i guess it is really all about how you define the word and what is important to you….

do you value unwavering support of the government in all areas, or do you value the advancement and improvement of government and the fight against corruption?

we are not french, our language is not pristine, nor do we attempt to keep it that way. so let us re-define what it means to be patriotic… let us define patriotism so that to criticize the government for the advancement of human kind is ESSENTIAL to the definition.

I saw Moore on television and he said that this is only HIS opinion, and not necessarily true. He encouraged viewers to look at the other side of the arguement and then decide. Is Farenheit 9/11 biased? Yes, and Moore is not trying to hide it. So after some one sees this movie, or any of his movies, they should come to their own conclusions, not to Moore’s conclusion, and i think he would agree with me.